The assignee of the present invention manufactures digital cameras and other computer-related equipment. Currently, most cameras are built for right-handed people with a large grip made for the right hand. Currently, there are no digital cameras that allow use by both right and left handed users. It would be desirable to have a digital camera that allows use by both left-handed and right-handed users.
A search regarding the present invention was performed in the US Patent and Trademark Office and uncovered the following US patents and published applications: U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,088, U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,883, U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,491, U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,041, U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,337, U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,448, U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,822, U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,506, U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,341, U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,113, U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,016, U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,447, U.S. Pat. No. 6,215,524, U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,903, and US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0054761.
With regard to those of the above-listed patent that appear generally relevant to the present invention, U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,113 discloses a “camera has a housing and a T-shaped handgrip turnably mounted on a side wall of the housing. A shutter release element is mounted in the housing.” U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,113 also discloses that “It is already known to provide cameras which detachable handgrips which, moreover, can be turned with reference to the camera housing. The purpose of this is to facilitate the operation of the camera by making the handgrip turnable about an axis which extends transverse (usually in normal) to the optical axis of the camera lens. Because of this the camera can be more conveniently operated while being held in either the left hand or the right hand of a user, and the arrangement also has further advantages in terms of camera operation.”
However, U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,113 does not disclose or suggest anything regarding digital cameras, liquid crystal display (LCD), batteries, flash units, or a digital camera having multiple flash units.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,506 discloses a “single lens reflex camera” that “includes a rotatable built-in flash unit.” However, U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,506 does not disclose or suggest anything regarding digital cameras, liquid crystal display (LCD), batteries, or a digital camera having multiple flash units.
US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0054761 discloses a “Photographic camera having lens movement control with pivotable grip surfaces and adjacent shutter release.” However, while the handgrip is pivotable, it does not rotate into positions that allow right-handed and left-handed use of the camera. Also, US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0054761 does not disclose or suggest anything regarding liquid crystal display (LCD), batteries disposed in a handgrip, or multiple flash units.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,088 discloses a “portable electronic device includes a display component and a device aperture component which are mounted on separate segments of the electronic device. Each segment can be rotated with respect to the other, thus permitting a user to photograph an object while adjusting the display to a desired viewing condition.” However, U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,088 does not disclose or suggest a digital camera having multiple flash units that are collocated in a rotatable portion of the camera body containing a liquid crystal display (LCD).
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for improved digital camera that may be gripped and used by both left-handed and right-handed people.